Consumer Behavior Course Reflection

QUESTION

Consumer Behavior

Assignment Week 8b

Reflective Journal

Course Reflection

Take a moment and reflect over the last eight weeks, thinking about the course as a whole: the lectures, textbook, assignments, discussions, exams and instructor and student interactions. Reflect on the course content, and all the marketing concepts that were introduced. What are three things you enjoyed about the course? What are some concepts you would like to learn more about? How can you take the concepts you learned in this course and apply it to your everyday life as a consumer?

Your work should be at least 500 words and draw from your own personal thoughts and ideas. This journal entry should be written in first person and use concepts from the lesson. If you use information from the textbook or lecture, be sure that you cite your sources.

ANSWER

Course Reflection

Introduction

In the last eight weeks, I have been actively involved in various course material, discussions and activities regarding the various customer behavior attributes, in a bid to better understand customers and how best businesses should treat them. The course has been a step by step study of the various aspects that need to be considered and taken into account for ultimate satisfaction of the consumer. The different topics and discussions have brought to light valuable information regarding the handling of consumers and response to their needs. The close interactions between our course instructor and us as the students have made the study of the course easy and enjoyable, and I am looking forward to continuing with this interaction for the better understanding of the course material.

Course Content and Marketing Concepts

We covered various concepts in marketing, with the discussion on Consumers in situations being one of my favorite. I identified quite well with the discussion on how the various situations that consumers find themselves in while shopping. The discussion took me back to many of my past shopping experiences, trying to identify the various influences that the prevalent situations had on my shopping behavior. The discussion and assignment on marketing to different cultures and micro-cultures was another of my favorite discussions. I was able to study the influence of my culture and that of other people on buying behavior. This is one topic that is very helpful to me as a future business person, as I have the skills required for a market study to look at the various cultures in my target market and determine what marketing strategies to use.

I also got to understand how different cultures are learned, and the importance of family and friends in the acquiring of certain behavior. The topic of decision-making processes was very interesting and informative. Previously, I had been making my purchases based mostly on peer influence and cost. After going through the consumer behavior course and particularly the decision-making topic and assignment, I have started going through a long process of considering my product choices, which has resulted in the purchase of better goods and ensuring that there are no regrets after purchases. Customer care concepts were well addressed in this course, with discussions such as the CVS ExtraCare program. The course ensures that we acquire proper management values and learned how best to treat our potential customers.

Recommendations

I really enjoyed the marketing concepts instilled in the course content. However, I would want the discussion on how the social media sites influence consumer behavior to be expanded, as social media is a huge business opportunity for startup companies. Almost every new business or new idea’s success revolves around its influence on social media, with many people shifting their shopping focus to products advertised on social media sites and the internet. I would love to get a better understanding of how to use social media to my advantage, as a businessperson. I would also kindly ask that the content on how the atmosphere affects consumer behavior to be expanded. Aspects such as music, colors, lighting and smells in shopping stores are crucial in promoting purchases. I did not quite properly understand how one can identify what aspects to manipulate or incorporate to achieve an atmosphere that will promote purchasing, and how different types of customers are affected by varying atmospheres.

Conclusion

The consumer behavior course has become one of my favorite course, as it revolves around the important aspects of consumers and how businesspeople and marketers can best prepare themselves to handle different groups of consumers, to ensure profitability of their ventures. It has been an illuminating and exciting learning experience that will assist me in my future marketing career and opening up of a personal business.